Miraculous health benefits of Turmeric

Spices are one of the major ingredients of Indian cuisine; without such spices food stuffs turns tasteless and unpleasant. In India, spices are also recognized as a kind of natural remedy. As every herb has some benefits in it, similarly these bountiful herbs are also enriched with numerous benefits.

Here, we will be talking about one of the common and highly beneficial herb plants called “Turmeric”. Apart from a simple herb spice, it has hidden many properties in it. So, let’s proceed to our topic-

Introduction

Turmeric is one of the most familiar yet one of the main ingredients in Indian cooking. Turmeric plants are 2-3 ft tall and leaves are spear-shaped just like bamboo leaves and somewhat like banana leaves; when crushed the leaves smell like mango leaves.

It bears pinkish-white colored flowers and has a ginger-like underground stem and is yellow or white inside. They are converted into usable turmeric as after getting boiled and then dried.  It has several varieties, some are:

1.  Curcuma longa- It is the commonly used turmeric variety as a spice.
2. Curcuma aromatica– It is also called ‘Mango-ginger’. Its roots and leaves have a smell very similar to camphor mixed mango.
3. Berberis aristata- It has the same characteristics as normal turmeric. It is well-known for its medicinal values especially for macular degeneration etc.
4. Curcuma zedoaria- It is also called ‘Vanharidra’; majorly it is found in West-Bengal and is used for coloring. It is known as wild turmeric.

Nomenclature

Turmeric plant belongs to the kingdom ‘Plantae’ and “Zingiberaceae” family. Its binomial name is Curcuma longa which is Latin in origin. In Hindi, it is also called Haldi whereas in Sanskrit it is called Haridra, Peeta, Yoshitpriya and many more.

Chemical composition of Turmeric:

Turmeric contains 5-10% of a volatile oil while makes it smell pungent and heavy. The other components in turmeric are curcumin which is a fragrant oil and turpentine. In addition, it also contains Vitamin A, protein, minerals, lubricant, and carbohydrate.

Uses of Turmeric

Apart from used as a spice ingredient; there are many more uses of Turmeric; some of them are listed below-

• Turmeric has an auspicious value and is used in many religious occasions.
• A kind of turmeric is also used as an ingredient in cosmetics; it is used as a natural bleach, face pack, creams, soaps, etc.
• Turmeric is also used to prepare natural colours; yellow or orange.
• Its volatile oil is also used in Aromatherapy.

Medicinal benefits of Turmeric

Now, let’s talk about the main form of our topic. Uses and benefits of turmeric are known to all, but only a few know that it also has the potency to cure dreadful diseases. Let’s have a look at these miraculous benefits-